The Destruction of the Past
by mypiratecat1
Summary: Based on a true historical event.  PostAWE.  Port Royal has been destroyed by a devastating earthquake Jack, Elizabeth and William find out that the past lives mostly in memories, and once, again, learn the value of friendship.  COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer**__: They all belong to Disney... along wif me weasly black heart._

_**Author's note:**__ It is a fact that Port Royal, Jamaica was partially destroyed by an earthquake, in the 1690s. This event has been used in some fanfics... I thought I would use it in a one shot. I took liberty with it, a bit, and set it later into the 1700s, when my stories take place. As always, William is "pardoned" from the curse and no longer captains the Flying Dutchman. He and Elizabeth are crewmembers on the Black Pearl, which pleases the ship's beautiful captain a great deal._

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The night was like black velvet around them... the sky was clear, but there was no moon to cast a bright light over the water, or upon the large black galleon as it crept along in the still sea. The waters, themselves, rippled only slightly, like as if it was holding its breath in anticipation of another disaster like the one which had taken place. The ship finally slowed to a silent stop, and with a hand signal, the sails were furled and the anchor lowered only enough to slow any progress. The mighty Black Pearl blended into the night like she was a part of the night, herself. As her lamps were doused, she became completely invisible, much like her captain, with his handsome dark coloring, would; a dark, silent spectre when it was useful to him, ghostlike but for the sound of the trinkets interwoven upon his person.

The crew gathered about one solitary lantern sitting upon the black floorboards of the main deck, partially enclosed by crates pulled around to block the light from anyone that might be watching from the shore. They were there upon a mission of the heart... pirates did have hearts, after all, they just showed them in different ways than the civilized world did. They had just recieved news from James Norrington, the captain of the ghost ship, The Flying Dutchman, that there had been a dreadful disaster... a terrible act of nature that would no doubt cause a great deal of heartache for at least two of the crewmembers of the most famous pirate chip in the Caribbean. Port Royal, Jamaica, had been stricken by a devestating earthquake, and two thirds of the destroyed town was now thirty feet under water...

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"... I want to come, too, Will," Elizabeth Swann Turner was near tears, as her tall, muscular husband prepared to climb down the side of the ship to the waiting longboat. Captain Jack Sparrow looked at her with sympathetic eyes, as he, also was readying himself to lower himself into the darkness, below. William was steadfast.

"... No, my love. Your place is here, watching the Pearl with the rest of the crew." William pulled his wife to him, putting his hand under her chin to raise her lovely face to his. His soft brown eyes met hers, and she knew that what she had said sounded like a child. Jack leaned forward a bit, his own luminous dark eyes catching the small amount of light from the lantern nearby, "Izzy... you know better. We are in hostile waters, lass, an' your fightin' skills are needed right here, in case anything happens... which it won't... but there is always a chance..." The words were punctuated with two graceful forefingers held up in front of the captain's serious face.

Elizabeth laid her head against William's strong, scarred chest, and sighed. "I know... I wasn't thinking..." Looking back up at her husband, she leaned forward and kissed him, her arms around him in a warm, loving embrace.

As she laid her head upon his chest once more, as Jack's rum husky voice whispered to the gathered crew, "If you must speak, speak no louder than I am, now. The water is calm, an' th' wind is heading inland. There is nothing t' obstruct any sound, an' any noise louder 'n' this will carry clear in to shore. Be quiet... or it could be our necks."

Turning his face toward the Turners, he continued speaking to the crew, "You all know why we are here... this is a stronghold o' th' Navy an' th' East India Trading Company, but this was once home t' these two bloody pirates, here." Jack's gold teeth caught the lanternlight as he smiled, wryly, "... an' William an' I are goin' closer in t' find out wot we can about friends and acquaintances... no lootin' here, mates... we are only here for information, savvy?"

The crew was silent. None of them had any good memories of this place, save for hauling Jack Sparrow's scrawny arse out of the sparkling waters to finally reclaim his dark ship upon the very morning that he was to be hung at Gallows Point... many others had met their fates in the very same place, but because of a young blacksmith finding them and making them privy to what he had planned, and telling them where to be upon that morning, Jack Sparrow had been saved.

The only crewmembers who had friends left in Port Royal were Angus Murtogg and Giles Mullroy. They had no idea how many of their old mates had made it back to Port Royal after the Battle of the Maelstrom, but they were worried that there would be casualties among the military. The fort still stood, they had been told, but there were many who had been killed by falling debris, or drowned as the very waterfront fell out from under their feet.

As William finally gave Elizabeth one last kiss upon her forehead, he started over the side of the ship to the longboat, below. Jack prepared to follow him, when Elizabeth took a hold of his sleeve. Turning to look at her, he was greatly surprised that she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a firm hug, whispering, "Be careful."

Jack grinned and said, "'Careful' is me middle name, love." She frowned at shook her head at the captain, as his dark form disappeared over the side of the ship and into the black, the only evidence that he was there at all being the sound of his boots upon the rungs.

Soon, only the sound of the water lapping against the Pearl's hull, and the soft dipping sound of rowing oars was all that the crew could hear, and Elizabeth Swann Turner began to bite her fingernails as the two men that she loved more than anything in the world disappeared into the darkness.

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Hours passed. The night time stars crept by as the crew grew more and more on edge as there was no sign of their slight captain and his best friend... there was very little talking between the crew... the only sound that brought them any joy at all was the gurgling of Elizabeth's and William's newborn son. Elizabeth brought him out of their cabin to take her mind off of her worry and sadness. As Joshamee Gibbs sat down next to her, she looked up at him with sorrowful eyes and said, softly, "I almost wish that we didn't come... I know that Jack is being very kind in bringing us here to try to find out if anyone is alive, but there will be nothing left of the life that Will and I knew..."

Joshamee smiled at the bonnie lass, and whispered, "I know Jack, Missy, an' he has his reasons t' come back t' Port Royal. He knows tha' this was home t' you an' Will, an' if it can help th' two of ye t' find closure an' complete acceptance o' th' lives that you both have chosen, then so be it."

Elizabeth thought that this was an odd thing to say... she had never had one bit of doubt that she and William had made the right decision to stay with the crew of the Black Pearl, but perhaps Jack was worried that they did have doubts. Or maybe he was just wanting to see things for himself, as he was inclined to do.

Her thoughts were finally interrupted some time later by the sound of oars, rowing a bit slower than before, and she joined the rest of the crew at the railing, straining her eyes against the darkness. Against the even darker water, the silhouette of the longboat materialized like a ghost, with a taller figure rowing, and a slender figure with a tricorn hat at the bow, leaning down low, watching the water with dark, sharp, cat-like eyes.

As Jack and William climbed slowly up the rungs and were pulled onto the main deck, William's tight face and Jack's terse "Weigh anchor... let's get th' hell outta here an' head for open waters... Joshamee, get me a bottle..." was all that the crew needed to hear... especially since Jack called his quartermaster by his first name.

As the Pearl's sails were, again, filling with the power of the low breezes, the ship slowly and silently made it's way back out of the mouth of the bay. William remained silent, his eyes watching the sky as the stars began to move amid the three tall masts of the ship. Turning, he saw the image of his wife, standing a few feet away, watching him with bare emotion etched upon her face. As he opened his arms, she ran to him and embraced him, to comfort him without even knowing what would be forthcoming from him and their captain, who was now pulling the cork of a bottle of rum with his teeth, spitting it out and pouring rum into three tankards.

As they went further and further out to sea, the lanterns were lit, and the warm light was finally inviting enough for the two silent men to tell the crew what they had seen.

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_To be continued with the conclusion, tomorrow..._


	2. Chapter 2

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The crew of the Black Pearl was relieved to be slipping quietly out of the mouth of Port Royal Bay... the moonless sky cast a dark pall over the already somber mood aboard the ship, as the captain and first mate sat and drank a full tankard of rum before they chose to say a word. As each gathered their thoughts, they kept glancing at each other, taking deep, tired breaths and looking away from each other several times. It was then that Elizabeth noticed that they were both wet... at some point, both of them had been in the water... a thought that made her shudder.

Finally, as the crew waited respectfully, William spoke first. "It took much longer for Jack and I to row in than we thought it would. Just as we had expected, there was a great deal of debris under the surface, and we had to be as quiet as we could. We chose to finally pull the longboat ashore as far away from the torches of the fort as we could... it was quite rocky, and we had a tough go of it trying to find a suitable place to hide the boat."

He paused, looking at every face of every crewman there. Jack cast his eyes down, as William said, softly, "There are no docks... there is no waterfront..." He looked at his wife, who was letting it all sink in, "... there is no town. Only the fort." He lost his voice momentarily, as his mind wandered back...

_... as the pair crept along what was left of the cobblestone streets, it was incredibly eerie to both of them how deserted and quiet the once bustling seaport was, now. There was hardly anything there that Jack recognized, having only been in Port Royal a few times.. the last time not being a visit that he cared to remember... he had been pulled from the damp brig of the Dauntless and dragged up to the prison at the fort, where he awaited hanging... William's eyes nearly teared up as he looked up at the fort and remembered seeing his friend handled quite roughly while he had been pardoned for his acts of piracy in order to rescue Elizabeth. The only Navy personnel who had treated Jack kindly were the two guards, Murtogg and Mullroy. Most might consider the two simpletons, but they were good men, brave men, who were simply not suited well to military life. Commodore Norrington was not unkind to Jack, but merely treated him as if he were a non person as Jack was taken away. Luckily, William thought, James thought of things much differently, now._

_Jack placed a finger to his lips and looked at his friend, as they heard footsteps... a small detachment of guards, walking through the deserted street... pressing themselves up against a wall in an alley, they heard the voices of the individuals as they passed. "Didja hear that Governor Swann's daughter is alive, and is sailing with the Black Pearl?" _

_"Aye, I heard that the young blacksmith, Turner, has turned up alive! The sailors in the tavern in the village near here said that he was the captain of the Flying Dutchman, but damned if he is alive!" _

_"Heard that Sparrow had been killed, too, but that can't be..." Jack's glowing eyes had a sparkle in them as William's eyes crinkled at the edges... they had been sailing together for nearly two years, now, since World's End, and William had been first mate for almost a year. News traveled slowly, or they were just living fast! _

_As the group passed, the two friends made their way up the winding streets toward the Governor's Mansion. Neither of them was prepared for what they saw... _

_Jack had never been there, but he could tell that the home had once been quite grandiose...the destruction was devastating. The once stately home was in ruins. __The plaster upon the outside walls was crumbling, exposing the brick and morter walls beneath like a forlorn skeleton. All of the windows were broken, staring out into the night like hollow eyes...and the front gate and walls were caved in. As they carefully approached, William's eyes filled with sadness. This had been a lovely colonial home at one time... _

_Going inside, the destruction almost made William become overcome with emotion. The stairway was collapsed... the ceiling was gone, and the home was nearly impassible due to the rubble of the roofing tiles that now were piled in the middle of what once had been the large entry hall. Looking all around him, he felt the arm of his companion go around his shoulder to comfort him. There was no reason to stay here. It was gone. In a husky whisper, the captain said, "Are ye alright, lad?" William simply nodded, and then said, "Let's go..." _

_As he turned to step out of the ruined doorway, he happened to look down, and smiled, wryly. Amidst the piles of debris was the remains of the small candelabra that he had pulled an arm off of while delivering James Norrington's sword to the governor... he wondered if the servants ever found out who had broken it and placed it hurriedly into hiding. _

_They traversed down the side of the house, and William could not help but look up at the window where Elizabeth's room had been... how many times had he gazed at the light above, desperately in love and thinking that he would never have a chance to express his love... Jack chuckled quietly, and whispered, "... an' of course, ye never figured out how t' climb up th' bloody trellis, did ya?"_

_William shook his head honestly, and whispered back, "No, but I wasn't a pirate then, mate..."_

_Watching the back of the pirate captain who was carefully picking his way through what was once the gardens, he found himself smiling slightly as he pondered the life that he and his wife led, now._

"Izzy," Jack continued the story, as he gently patted her hand. She was trying not to cry, and swallowed hard, as she looked into Jack's brown eyes. "Izzy, darling, ye'll be glad t' find out tha' most o' th' servants o' the governor's mansion survived. William an' I were able to make it t' th' village tavern about two miles past th' fort, an' I loaned him me hat an' coat t' wear so's he wouldn't be easily recognised. I hid outside, an' he was able t' ask around about some o' th' townfolk."

Looking up at his newest crewmen, Jack said, as kindly as he could, "... we were not able t' find out much about Navy casualties, mates..." Angus and Giles nodded sadly, as their captain continued, "... th' town was pretty much wiped out o' wot military was there... William was told tha' most o' th' personnel at th' fort is fresh from England..."

Jack's voice grew a bit dark, as he said, "Imagine. Th' fort is built so bloody well that only th' barracks collapsed. Killed most o' th' men there... collapsed right into the yard where th' gallows stands." He frowned darkly, and muttered, "Th' gallows...still stands..."

"The servants were gone by the time the aftershocks destroyed the governor's mansion." William pulled his wife close, as she smiled, shakily and said, "Estrella?"

William nodded, "Your personal maid went back to London." Elizabeth wiped her eyes and smiled. Estrella had been a loyal maid, and had seen the love blossoming between William and Elizabeth before either of them even saw it.

Elizabeth finally looked up at her husband, and asked what she had been dreading, "What about your master at the blacksmith shop... John Brown?" William's face grew somber, but he was not as upset as she might have thought.

"Well, my love, he is dead... but he was gone long before the earthquake." William's voice grew a bit bitter, as he said, "After I left you in the jail to find Jack, and I never returned, the blacksmith shop went out of business..."

"Jus' left _everything_ there... everything but th' donkey, I s'pose," Jack said, enigmatically, as suddenly William shot him a glare. Jack closed eyes halfway and smiled slightly.

William's mood turned sad, as he took up Elizabeth's hands, as the others listened raptly, "... the men that I talked to at the tavern said that after 'young Turner turned pirate for good' and it was up to Master Brown to run his own smithy, he could not fill the orders and could not find an apprentice to put up with his laziness. He closed up the shop and drank himself to death not long after you and I left Port Royal."

"Are we surprised?" Jack asked, blithely, as he wrung out his hair a bit... they had not said how they had both come back to the Pearl with wet hair and damp clothing.

William did not answer... it seemed that there was something else that happened during their foray into the ruined Port Royal that he did not wish to discuss in front of the others. Jack looked at Joshamee Gibbs, who turned to the rest of the crew and said, "We are t' get th' Pearl far outta th' bay, gents... man your posts an' let's catch what little wind we have t'night... let's let th' cap'n an' Mr. an' Mrs. Turner have a bit o' privacy..."

As the crew reluctantly went to their duties in order to put some distance between themselves and Jamaica, William leaned forward toward his captain, and said, "Jack, we have a need to continue our conversation with Elizabeth in your cabin..."

Elizabeth was puzzled, as Jack seemed to expect William's slightly irritated demeanor, and they picked up their mugs of rum, and retired to the privacy of the captain's quarters...

_To be continued..._

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	3. Chapter 3

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Elizabeth went ahead with the bottle of rum in her hand, and lit several candles in Jack's cabin, as Jack and William followed... but as soon as the cabin door was closed, William immediately pulled Jack's arm around his own shoulder and curtly said, "To your bunk... let's get that boot off right away..." Jack bit his lip silently, as he lifted his right foot up and painfully hopped his way over to his bunk on the other side of the cabin. Elizabeth looked up in alarm, "Jack! You're hurt!"

As they helped onto his bunk, and put his right leg up gingerly, William carefully pulled Jack's boot off as the captain winced and grunted a bit in pain. William shook his head angrily, as he saw that Jack's right ankle was swelled up to twice the normal size it should be, and was turning a deep, dark shade of purple, and the skin was scraped raw. Elizabeth's mouth dropped open and she said, "What on earth did you do to yourself?" No answer was given, as William sat on the edge of the bunk and gently worked Jack's foot around to determine if his ankle was broken.

"Ouch!" Jack whimpered, "Owwww." William glared up at his companion, as he said to his wife, "Get some canvas strips so we can bind this ankle up. It's not broken, but it's twisted and sprained pretty badly... it's a wonder that you could walk on it, you daft fool, let alone try to _hide_ that it was injured at all from the rest of the crew! I ought to go ahead and break it for you, anyway! Is it any wonder that you always get sick or banged up all the time? You're so bloody careless!"

Jack's face was sullen, and he was rather surprised that William was so upset with him. They had not had one single cross word about anything, to his recollection, since the events at World's End, their friendship was that strong, but it was like he was looking at the intense young blacksmith, again.

As Elizabeth returned with some strips of old black canvas from the Pearl's sails, she winced as William carefully made certain one more time that the injury was not severe, and then asked one more time... "What on earth did you do, Jack?" Even she was surprised at how upset her husband seemed. William gently began to bind Jack's ankle, and said, tersely, "We almost foundered in the longboat, and Jack nearly drowned..."

Elizabeth's hand shot up to her mouth. Her eyes widened, "What happened?" Then, poking Jack hard in the arm with a finger, she said, "And you said that 'careful' was your middle name!"

Jack growled at her, then took up the story, looking at the angry William with a defensive expression. Turning to speak to Elizabeth, the captain said, " As well as I can usually see in th' dark, there were so many obstacles... so many things tha' we bumped against under th' water...chimneys... tiled rooftops... of all things, we were damn near taken out by a bloody submerged flag pole!"

The captains' eyebrows drew together in a slight frown, as took a long, slurping swallow of the rum, then wiped his mouth with the back of his branded arm. Looking at the brand, momentarily, he carefully pulled his shirt sleeve down over the stark white scar, and slowly buttoned the cuff, for no other reason than he was just not in the mood to look at it. William finished bandaging Jack's ankle snugly, and finally simply looked at his captain, who was obviously in some discomfort. He tied off the bandage and shook his head at the captain in some sort of resignation.

As Elizabeth sat close to her husband, she took his strong blacksmith's hands in her own, and hesitatingly said, "... Will... the smithy.. is it.." William squeezed her hands, and shook his head. "That, my love, is why Jack nearly drowned."

"What??? At the smithy?" Elizabeth spun around and stared at Jack, who was taking another long drink, looking back at her evenly. He began to smile, strangely, but then winced a bit and said nothing, tilting his head to one side and nodding toward William. William was definitely not smiling.

"The blacksmith's shop is gone... it is also under about 30 feet of water." Looking at Jack, William got an edge to his voice, again, "The flag pole that we got hung up on was the one that was in the square across from the smithy, outside of the dress shop that you used to frequent... "

Elizabeth was still staring at Jack out of the corner of her eye. She then looked at William and said, "Yes, the Belle Image dress shop that I would visit, after which I would then sneak over to the smithy to spend time with you when Father thought I was having a fitting..." they both smiled a bit at that one. How innocent they were, then...

"Well, the longboat got hung up on the top of the flag pole, which was just under the water's surface and Jack, in all of his infinite wisdom and athletic prowess..." William threw his friend a sarcastic look, "...Jack decided to go into the water see if he could go underneath the boat, and force the bow free."

William narrowed his eyes at a now expressionless Jack, who let his first mate continue... his loyal first mate, who was now directing his angry, hot words at the captain.

"...I nearly worried myself into a state when you went underwater and did not come back up, Jack! I am not one given to panic, anymore, but..." William pointed an frustrated finger at his captain and finally sputtered, "...you helped me to regain my heart from the Dead Man's Chest and reunite me with my wife, Jack, but then you damn near stopped that heart with a _heart attack_! I couldn't even yell at you until _now_! Is it not enough that Elizabeth and I have lost all that we had of our past lives, but to almost lose _you_, again, too?" William's face was filled with anguish. There was a momentary silence between the two men.

"Ye know I can swim like a fish, William!" Jack argued a bit lamely with his first mate... but he knew, now, just how much this disaster had affected this strong young man.

"I know, Jack, but it was like swimming in black ink, and there was so much dangerous debris lying underwater that you could have been injured or killed by... fallen timbers, loose stone, broken glass... and we had to remain silent while all of this was happening so as not to get caught!" William's anger cooled, as he searched for words, "Jack... I... can't believe that you did what you did... "

As it all sank in with William what might have happened to the captain, his fury completely dissipated, and Jack's trademark bravado melted in front of all of them, sympathically, as William put his bandana'd head into his hands. Elizabeth said nothing, as she did not know what to do for either of them, except to let them talk this out.

Not raising his head from his hands, William said, softly, "Jack was under the water for too long... I was frantic when he wouldn't come out from under the longboat... I slipped myself down into the water to try to find him, without making any noise... it wasn't until I saw bubbles coming to the surface that I realized where he was, and that he was in trouble. His foot had become entangled in the loose rope strung from the flagpole, and we nearly had to break his ankle to free him before he drowned... he had been much deeper in the water than he said that he would be..."

As Jack cleared his throat a little, he finally was able to say, "I'm sorry, lad..." his face brightened, slightly, "... but th' smiffy was where we met, remember?... where this whole adventure really started, ye know..."

William looked up, his handsome face filled with distress, "... Jack... you could have _died_ down there... we could have lost you over a material thing..."

"But I didn't die... you saved me, again. I just took in a bit of water, tha's all... an' it was worth it," was Jack's mysterious, slurred reply. "I coughed th' water up quietly, didn't I?"

William stared at his captain in frustration, as Elizabeth bit her lip, nervously. Jack was given to some very mad moments, and this had been one of them. "Jack... why were you down so deep in the water... why?"

Elizabeth gazed at her two men. As they both took several swallows of rum, William stood up from his chair, and as Elizabeth gasped in wonder, William slowly pulled a sword from his scabbard... not the sword that he had assigned to himself as the weapons master of the ship... amazingly, this was one of his own, hand forged swords... not one of his more ornate creations, but an unmistakable piece of Turner craftsmanship... it was only slightly damaged from weeks underwater, but the rust that had formed would be easily cleaned by an expert's loving hand... William held out the fine weapon for all to see, his feelings clearly etched upon his face.

Jack was speaking with a very odd tone to his voice, "Ye don't have one o' your own swords, mate... I knew about where th' door o' th' smiffy was to th' east o' th' flagpole...I just found it in the dark, swam in by gropin' along, an' grabbed wot I could... I remembered where th' rack was right by th' door... I'm glad it was a finished one, an' that I didn't cut me hand off in th' dark.. I rather wish that it was th' one that you'd thrown at th' door t' stop me from escaping..." the captain concluded, simply.

William hung his head in exasperation and gave up. Jack had a hint of that gleam in his eye that always worried the Turners. Elizabeth turned back to Jack, and finally her tears began to spill. "Jack..."

Looking up at the young couple, Jack turned the bottle of rum around a few times in his slender hands, and blinked his dark eyes at them, hard, "In finding a sword in th' dark in a place I'd only been once... that was plain, dumb luck... as for the events o' th' rest o' th' evening..." Jack's voice trailed off as he looked directly into his anguished young friends' faces, and very suddenly spoke his heart, in the strangely direct way that was his habit, when he chose to do so.

"When th' two o' you had your wedding stopped by Cutler Beckett, ye had no idea wot would befall all of us, savvy? Ye knew tha' neither o' ye would be able to return t' your homes after turnin' pirate... an' now there is nothin' left o' th' homes tha' ye left behind... aye, th' town will probably come back, but not th' way that ye both knew it." The captain took a much smaller sip of rum, his dark eyes never leaving theirs.

Turning to Elizabeth, the captain leaned forward, his hands in midair, and said, "Your late father took 'is job as governor as seriously as my father does, as Keeper of th' Code, Izzy. I never held a grudge against th' governor because he was doin' 'is job nearly as well as I do mine. He was an honorable man. An' exceptin' for th' two o' you, I woulda been dancin' th' hangman's jig at Gallow's Point, back there..." Jack tossed his head to the Jamaican shore that was further and further away with every wash of waves at the ship's dark stern. "... be glad, love, that th' governor did _not_ see wot William an' I saw tonight in wot's left o' Port Royal... your town's waterfront an' main square... it's all at th' bottom o' the bay, now... many, many lives were snuffed out in a matter of minutes..."

Turning his face away from the emotional young couple who had lost everything except their memories of the town where they had both grown up, the captain looked at the beautiful sword that he had groped his way into the smithy in watery blackness for, and muttered, "It was th' least tha' I could do, t' try t' get one o' William's swords for 'im before we left... William doesn't even carry one o' his own fine swords..."

Tilting his head to one side, and sounding as if he were talking to himself, Jack continued,"...it struck me as William an' I were looking about in th' ruins o' th' Governor's Mansion... if it weren't for th' good fortune of your wedding bein' interrupted, wif all that followed, William coulda been workin' at th' smiffy th' day th' quake hit... I assume that th' two of ye woulda lived above th' shop, Izzy... the two o' ye coulda ended up just bein' numbers on a casualty list... Instead, for better or worse, you're sailin' on th' Black Pearl wif a daft scamp like meself... think about it..."

Jack's hand vaguely waved a small circle in the air, and he took yet another swallow of rum.

William stood with Elizabeth, caressing the rusting masterpiece that Jack had risked his life for, both of them silently and sadly thinking this over... Jack looked at the young couple, and grew concerned when he saw the same tangled jumble of emotions that had overtaken William's tanned face on the day that it was revealed that he would be able to leave the Flying Dutchman.

Jack painfully got up from his bunk, to comfort his first mate and tearful quartermaster second mate, in his odd manner of simply looking at them appealingly...they were momentarily overwhelmed with sadness... grief... and were washed over with relief that their friend's actions were not, once again, his undoing.

Jack peered into his friends' faces, and started to speak. Much to his surprise, he was wrapped in a three way embrace. He tried to back up for a moment, and then acquiesced, only because he was balancing upon one foot... he decided that it was best to let the young ones release the feelings of loss...anxiety... and the feeling of complete understanding of the implications of their own decisions about their lives as pirates.

Finally, the fussing of a newborn baby in the cabin across from the captain's caused them to compose themselves... in keeping their arms about each other for only a moment longer, Elizabeth said, quietly, "In the words of a despicable man who tried to destroy us, a marriage was interrupted, and fate intervened... our marriage was merely interrupted, but it was not destroyed... fate intervened, and guided us all to the right end... away from Port Royal and to our lives aboard the Black Pearl."

Gazing lovingly at her husband and their friend, she gave them both one more affectionate embrace, burying her face deeply in a mix of William's dark, curly hair and the captain's tangled, water dampened braids, "... and to use the words of another pirate captain that shall remain nameless out of respect to our best friend, I would like to request that we put the town to our rudder and 'ne'er return'..."

William softly stroked his wife's golden locks, his eyes closed, as Jack smiled, "Th' request shall be granted, tha's a safe bet, lass..."

A soft knock upon the door caused them all to look up, and Joshamee Gibbs' voice said quietly, "Cap'n, if you're ready, Mr. Cotton's time at th' wheel is up, an' your time at th' helm is nigh..." Jack replied through the door, "Tell Cotton that I'm comin', an' he can go get a plate o' supper in th' galley..."

The young couple helped their captain pull his boot back on, with only a small hiss of pain, and they accompanied him out of his cabin and into the now warmly lit decks before them. The breezes were soft, and the sails were full and dancing lightly. It was always exhilirating to feel the water pass under the Black Pearl's smooth dark hull... caressing her like a lover... a feeling that the Turners loved and knew that they were born to, just as Jack Sparrow was. Port Royal was only the place that they had started this life. The town was devastated ... but they had been, also, at one time... it would come back from devastation, just as they had, but without them to help rebuild it.

"Captain Jack Sparrow," William Turner the Second said, emotionally, as he took his friend's shoulders into his hands, " ...thank you for letting us come back here just one more time, to see things for ourselves... now, my friend...bring us that horizen..." The captain smiled slightly, and patted his first mate's shoulder with real affection.

With only the smallest bit of help from his young friends, he hobbled up the stairs to the quarterdeck. The captain took over the wheel, and gave it a hard, determined spin, with the Turners at his side... as the mighty Black Pearl turned her bowsprit out into the dark Caribbean Sea, the churning waters off of her stern pushed Port Royal, Jamaica, out of their lives, and into all of their pasts, forever... for it was a place they would never return to, except to visit the Port Royal that now only existed in their memories...

THE END

۞


End file.
